In a bid to curb spread of Christianity in China, prayers and religion related activities have been prohibited in the hospitals in China’s Zhejiang province. All the hospitals in the eastern province have essentially banned all kinds of religious activities which include receiving pastors in the hospitals, praying for the sick and preaching in the hospitals.

In line with details, all public hospitals in the eastern province of China have had “all forms of religious activity banned.” A public hospital Wenzhou Central Hospital was directed by the government to post the notice on its walls while hospital staff was told to inform the news to the patients and visitors. Wenzhou has been termed as the “Jerusalem of China.” It has been hub of evangelistic activity in the past, and is home to around a million Christians.

An employee of one of the hospitals on the condition of anonymity stated: “The religious activities in the hospital have never been encouraged. But some prayed silently, which is understandable: on the other hand we are all here to support patients. But others made noise, reading the Bible or reciting prayers aloud. And that’s not good.”

A representative of Christian advocacy group China Aid said that the crackdown against Christians in Zhejiang province is now gaining momentum in the neighboring provinces of Anhui and Inner Mongolia. “The Chinese government is taking its persecution of religious believers to another level. They are doing it in the name of the rule of law, but actually it’s very clear that there is an element of wanting all religion to be Chinese in character. The international community should be aware that are stepping up the pressure on religious practice, so that there is gradually less and less freedom.”